Welcome to the 2017-2018 Year in Review

This Year's Highlights in Academics

Lower School

Executive Functioning Program

Professional development and curricular units were developed that focus on organizational skills, metacognitive development, self-regulation, and growth mindset.

Kindergarten Curriculum Enhancement

A new schedule, upgraded classroom furniture, and a research-based approach provided an even stronger foundation for our students.

Coding Instruction

All K-5th Grade students are now taught coding at CESJDS. All 3rd-5th grade students will have coding offered as part of the Math curriculum. 5th grade will use Code Monkey, a program developed in Israel.

STEM in the Library

We opened a TinkerSpace and launched a STEM Lending Library. Students come to the library in small groups and "play to learn" with STEM equipment and borrow packs of STEM tools and books to take home.

George Washington University Partnership

In the partnership's second year, more units were developed across the grade levels and the GW team conducted research on this unique initiative.

Middle School

New Schedule

Based on parent, student, and faculty feedback we revised the middle school schedule. Core academic and elective classes will occur Monday-Friday each week, the last two classes of the day will rotate on different days of the week.

B'Yadenu ("In Our Hands") Project

Sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and Gateways Center for Professional Development in Boston, a number of faculty participated in this program to enhance serving students with diverse learning needs.

Differentiated Instruction

Teachers across all disciplines integrated more techniques for differentiating instruction to help each student reach his/her personal best in classes.

Kolot (Voices)

A weekly advisory program employed the Council In Schools approach to reflective listening techniques and speaking openly from the heart.

Athletics Achievements

The Boys Baseball and Girls Basketball both brought home PVAC championship banners at the end of the season.

High School

Triangular School Program

With support from the Federation’s Imagine Israel initiative, CESJDS participated in a 3-way school partnership, with a Jewish Israeli school and an Arab Israeli school. CESJDS students interacted with the students from both schools in Israel via Skype and online.

Inaugural Trip to Argentina

A group of 10 CESJDS High School Spanish students and their teachers visited Argentina. This trip was designed to explore the life and culture of Buenos Aires, and to gain first-hand experience with a Spanish-speaking country.

Extracurricular Activity Awards and Recognitions

Academic Achievements

73% of CESJDS students who took the National Spanish Exam won an achievement medal. High school students created the first edition of The Bohr Franklin Scientific Journal.

Athletic Achievements

The Boys JV Basketball Team and the Girls and Boys Varsity Cross Country Teams won PVAC Championships. The Boys Varsity Cross Country Team won the state championship for the first time in CESJDS’s history.

The future needs it. The Jewish world, and possibly the wider world, need schools that are community-based, that are pluralistic, and have outstanding education. The world needs Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School.

JONATHAN CANNON, FORMER HEAD OF SCHOOL, FATHER OF BENJY '11, ARON '13, JACOB (Grade 12)

We are blown away by the teachers - their level of education, their lesson plans and HOW they teach. Their passion is contagious.

Kimberly Hasenberg (Mother to Ellie, Grade 8, and Benny, Grade 6)

I spent my morning melting minds--I introduced 3rd graders to how the earth spins and rotates in space and creates day, night, and seasons. They were begging for more information. Science is the best.

Alexis Soffler, Lower School Science and STEM Coordinator

The kindergarten experience is really a showcase for the "whole child" approach that CESJDS embraces where every aspect of a child's growth is embraced.